Robotics For Engaging Educational Experiences

This week celebrates the eighth annual National Robotics Week April 8-16, 2017. While the week aims to celebrate technological advancement and advocate for continued R&D, Couragion is especially keen to support the overarching goal of inspiring students to pursue careers in robotics and other Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields.

Robotics professionals are specialists across multiple disciplines and bridge computer science, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering. Because the careers are interdisciplinary in nature, there are many different paths one can pursue academically.

While the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employment as a robotics engineer is growing slower than average, this can be misleading. The skills perfected through robotics programs like systems and design thinking are needed for many careers of the future. And robotics is revolutionizing technology and engineering jobs in the automotive, agriculture, healthcare and manufacturing industries among others.

Recent Google-Gallup studies have shown that robotics offerings in schools grew 12% year-over-year. In a new Couragion study, we asked educators which computer science concepts were offered at their schools. Notably, 55% of schools offer robotics in the classroom – and robotics was the 2nd most common response. But why the growing interest?

Robotics programs can offer engaging, hands-on experiences for students that encourage collaboration and problem solving. Robotics can be a great way to introduce computer programming to students because the robot provides them with automatic feedback in response to a set of changing instructions that they control. Check out our partner Ten80’s robotics courses, camps and competitions as an example of quality educational programming.

Do you have any great stories to share about how robotics has inspired your kids? We'd love to hear about it!